Wish Petal
by redpixel
Summary: Saori Hasegawa always tries her best to fit in. After she becomes friends with Minato, she starts to regain memories that she never knew she'd lost.
1. Chapter 1

**WISH PETAL - ONE**

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><p><em>Do you remember the gift you gave me? I once gave you the exact same gift. You lived through those memories twice. I wonder if you felt the same emotions? You're always so calm. You're always so cool.<em>

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><p><em><strong>Crack! <strong>_The resounding noise of hand to face echoed throughout the library.

"And don't you ever go near my boyfriend again!" the girl screamed as she stomped out of the door. The library fell in to silence as the other girl, who had been on the receiving end of a slap to the face, stood in shock, gently caressing her bright red cheek.

Saori Hasegawa, disliked by her peers and a disgrace to her parents, always tried her hardest. The events that had led to this scene had been a misunderstanding. Saori was always the unfortunate one. She pushed the negative thoughts to the back of her mind, suddenly becoming aware of the people around her. Straightening her uniform, she resolved to reassure everyone that she was okay.

"I'm…" Saori cut off her own sentence as she realised that the library's population had gone back to his or her own business. Those that were still staring averted their gaze as she looked around. She continued to fight the negative thoughts creeping inside of her.

"Excuse me… Can I check this out?" Saori was suddenly brought back to reality by a voice. She turned to see a blue haired boy leaning against the library counter, his hand placed on a book.

"Check out what?" asked Saori. Her thoughts started to gather once more as she suddenly remembered her duties as a member of the library committee.

"The book, not the scene." The boy said with a slight smirk appearing, and then disappearing, from his face. Saori had originally taken this comment to heart, but something about the boy reassured her that he was not trying to be cruel. He had no expression, but Saori could see it in his eyes, which she put down as a benefit of being older than the other students.

Saori bowed lightly and hurried over to the counter. The boy still had one of his headphones clipped to his ear and was casually glancing around the library. She picked up the book from the counter, a light novel about magical girls, and glanced at the boy. He continued to look around the library.

"Are you okay?" said the boy as Saori scanned the barcode of the book. Her cheek still felt numb from where she had been slapped.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Saori glanced back at the counter and ran her fingers across the cover of the book, an impulse brought on through embarrassment.

"I'm sorry I had to see it too, but are you okay?" The boy was staring at her intently as he asked his question.

"I'm fine. Thank you," Saori replied.

The boy handed Saori his library card and she proceeded to type his details in to the school computer. "Well, don't push yourself," he said casually as he resumed his lean against the counter.

Saori went through the normal library procedures for checking out a book. She noticed the boy's name on the screen, 'Minato Arisato', and mumbled it to herself.  
>"Is there something wrong with my name, Hasegawa-senpai?" The voice brought her back to reality with a shock.<br>_I must have been thinking out loud!_

"No. Not at all." She tried to keep a smile plastered on her face as she replied, which came across as more of a nervous twitch. "Wait," Saori said. "How do you know my name?"

"Well, I've been here before."

"Oh? Anyway, you can drop the formalities and just call me Saori. I may be older but I'm still a freshman, just like you."

"You can call me Minato then."

Saori passed the book to Minato, which her carefully slid in to his bag. She smiled to herself for a moment. A brief encounter with this boy had taken her mind off of the events that had just occurred. He seemed nice, and that was enough for Saori. All she really wanted was to make friends.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Minato said as he tucked his bag under his arm.

"I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern." Saori unconsciously rubbed her cheek, which was still numb.

"I'll walk you home later," remarked Minato with a smile on his face.

"No. You don't have to do that."

"My friend, Junpei, would never forgive me if I didn't help the damsel in distress."

"I'm not exactly in distress…" Saori didn't sound confident as she made that statement, which Minato seemed to pick up on immediately.

"I'll see you at the shoe lockers after school then. Any complaints? I'm not listening."  
>Minato turned away from the counter and clipped his second headphone to his other ear. He nonchalantly strolled from the library with his hands in his pockets.<br>Saori smiled to herself as she watched him leave. Her parents would more than likely oppose her for walking home with a boy. She couldn't think of that at the moment though. Maybe she had finally made a friend, and that made her happy.

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><p><strong>AN: Hey! Short introduction, I know. I was going to draft out the next scene, but it felt like it was advancing too fast. So here's the introduction to my new fanfic. You might find I've swapped a couple of things around for Saori's back story, and the story in general I guess. It's essential to where I'm going with this plot, so it's AU. Anyway, I hope you liked it.**

**Quick shout out to VaatiBelmont. We were discussing Persona for ages, which in turn inspired me to start writing some stuff again.**


	2. Chapter 2

**WISH PETAL - TWO**

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><p><em>I can never tell what you're thinking, or what you're going to do next. You must have had so many important things to say to me.<em>

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><p>"Oh, it fell!" Saori sat next to Minato on the park bench at Naganaki Shrine. They had taken notice of a lone flower with a single blue petal remaining. "That's so sad," Saori said as she got to her feet. She picked up the petal that was now lying on the ground and stared at it in the palm of her slender hand.<p>

"I think it was a Forget-me-not," she remarked as she walked back over to Minato. "Here." Saori held her hand out to Minato. "It's a gift."

"A gift?" Minato asked the question as he plucked the petal from her hand.

"The colour matches your eyes. You can think of it as a symbol of our friendship as well." Saori beamed a smile at Minato as he stared at the petal with his usual blank expression.

"Thank you. I'll take good care of it." Minato slid the petal in to his jacket pocket. He glanced up to notice a man striding towards them with a spring in his step, and a camera gripped in his hands.

"Excuse me, young lady!"

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><p>Saori came to her senses moments later, her eyesight glued to a spot near the bench. There sat a dead flower with all of its petals missing. <em>What was that? Did I just imagine something that never happened?<em>

True to his word, Minato had met her by the shoe lockers later that day. They had decided to stop at the Naganaki Shrine on their way home. Minato was currently making a trip to the vending machine to get drinks for the two of them.

"Young lady! Excuse me!"

Saori looked up to see a man making his way towards her. A sly smile danced across his face as he hummed a tune to himself.

"How can I help you?" Saori asked as the man stopped in front of her.

"I'm a reporter working for the local paper and I was wondering if I could take your picture?" The man held his camera up and tapped the lens cap to punctuate his sentence.

"My picture? Why?"

"It's good to see kids wearing the school uniform outside school. You must be an exemplary student. This will be good for the reputation of Gekkoukan High."

"Oh, I see. Very well. Where should I stand?" Saori got to her feet as the reporter motioned towards an open area. She dusted her uniform down, straightened her hair, and put on her best smile for the camera.

"That's great!" The man with the camera remarked. He lifted the camera up to his face. _**Click!**_ The camera shutter winked in Saori's direction. "Huh?" The man with the camera had a perplexed expression as he looked up. Minato was stood right in the path of the picture, his hands in his pockets.

"You're in the way, kid!"

"I think you'd better leave," Minato said calmly.

"What are-"

"She doesn't curse. She doesn't seduce boys. I know how this goes. Please leave." Minato cut the man's sentence off as he looked towards the blue haired boy in disgust. He continued to stare as he backed away and left the scene.

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><p>Saori and Minato were now sitting on the bench. Minato stared at the can of juice in his hand and then spoke calmly. "You should be careful what you agree to."<p>

Saori stirred her can of juice round in the palm of her hand. "It didn't seem like a bad request. Did you know him?"

"We've met before. Some things played out differently back then. Let's just say he's not a nice person."

"…Thank you." Minato glanced up at Saori as she muttered those words. "I mean it. I know you were looking out for me." She blushed to herself as she spoke those words. "Look at me. It's not often I get embarrassed."

Minato smiled at Saori's words. He gulped down the last of his juice and threw the empty can in to the nearest bin as he got to his feet. "Well, I guess we should part ways from here."

"Thank you for walking with me." Saori stood and neatly placed her empty juice can in to the bin.

"Oh, before I forget." Minato reached his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a single blue petal. "Here." He held out the petal to Saori. "It's a gift."

She stared at the petal for a moment, recalling the scene she thought she had lived through earlier. "I… Thank you."

"It's a symbol of our new friendship. The colour matches my eyes. This way you'll remember me." Minato nervously scratched the back of his head, as if he was struggling with his words. His usual nonchalant attitude seemed to diminish, but only for a moment.

"It's beautiful. I'll take good care of it." Saori put the events down to her imagination and accepted the blue petal from Minato. Something was still bugging her about how similar the scenes had been though.

"Maybe it's lucky? You should make a wish on it." With that statement, Minato gave a light wave and started to walk away from Saori. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow," she remarked. She waved until he was out of sight. The petal seemed almost mystical sitting in the palm of her hand. She slid it in to her pocket and started to make her way home.

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><p><strong>AN: Hey! This is the part I cut from the introduction to pace it a little better. You can lump it all together as one chapter if you like. **

**This pairing is difficult at the moment, mostly because I don't have much support cast. Going to try and introduce a more interesting scenario for the next chapter and see how that goes. Thanks for reading!**

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><p><strong>BONUS:<strong>

The world is not normal. I've known this for a long time.

My eyes see through the most deceiving Shadows. My dagger pierces the heart of darkness.

I am the force that drives the execution squad.

I see the way they look at me, like I'm some kind of dog.

I watch. I watch as they talk. I watch as they fight.

I detect what they cannot-

For I am the force that drives the execution squad.

They say I'm noble, that I'm fluffy, and bright.

Expensive food is what I desire most. The fighting can wait.

I am the force that drives the execution squad.

My eyes fill with rage, and yet, am I happy?

Of course! I am the fluffy one. I am the one that will drive away the darkness.

I am the force that drives the execution squad.

_- 'I am the force', a poem by Koromaru._


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